Configuration management: Why it’s so important for IT security

Security configuration management (SCM) is a critical concern for organizations and a fundamental part of many cybersecurity frameworks. Consider this scenario: a team member tweaks a hardware setting on their personal laptop to boost software performance. However, this change causes unforeseen issues when the software is later deployed in a production environment. Even worse, it opens the door for cybercriminals to exploit the misconfiguration and gain unauthorized access, putting your company’s information security at risk.

IT teams often grapple with a fundamental question: “What hardware and software do we have, and how do we secure them?” Addressing security configuration management in cybersecurity provides the answer by giving visibility into every change you make. It tracks individual configuration items – i.e. any asset involved in delivering IT services – to ensure that systems maintain optimal performance as changes are made over time.

While it’s often overlooked, configuration management is essential for system operation. But where should you begin? What’s the best approach for your team? And how can you effectively tackle your SCM challenge without a significant investment in time and money? Whether you’re a small business or a big corporation, this article will guide you through the complexities of deploying and maintaining a configuration management process that enhances control, stability and the security of your organization’s information systems.

What is configuration management?

Configuration management can be defined in many ways, but a widely recognized definition comes from the world’s leading information security controls standard, ISO/IEC 27002. According to the standard, the goal of configuration management is “to ensure hardware, software, services and networks function correctly with required security settings, and [that] configuration is not altered by unauthorized or incorrect changes”.

In practice, this means identifying, documenting and managing configuration items within your IT systems to prevent undocumented changes from impacting the environment – a vital step in strengthening security configuration management in cybersecurity.

While this may sound straightforward, configuration management cannot be effective without a thorough understanding of your organization’s IT assets. It starts with building a comprehensive inventory of what you have in terms of hardware (such as operating systems, hosts and network devices) and software (i.e. applications running on these systems or in the cloud). This is an essential part of the configuration management process. Creating a clear, detailed view of your IT environment, and how it all interacts, lays the groundwork for robust configuration management practices that bolster your system’s security and stability.

Infrastructure as Code

When it comes to IT infrastructure, most companies seek solutions that are both scalable and can be deployed the same way every time. That’s why an increasing number of enterprise IT environments are adopting virtualization, automation and management practices to provision, deploy and manage resources and services through software – a practice referred to as Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

IaC is an approach that automates the management and provisioning of infrastructure resources using software-defined methods. Instead of manually configuring components such as servers, networks and storage, IaC uses machine-readable files to define and configure them, reinforcing information security practices. From data centres to telecommunications and beyond, this software-defined infrastructure is transforming industries and encouraging innovation.

While IaC automates the creation of infrastructure components through code, configuration management focuses on automating the configuration and maintenance of software applications and services running on that infrastructure. This is known as Configuration as Code (CaC), a methodology that treats configuration scripts and settings as code. Together, IaC and CaC form the foundation of the modern configuration management process, fostering automation, consistency and scalability in IT environments.

Mastering these concepts – and effectively using configuration management tools to implement them – requires both expertise and diligence, so let’s dive in and unravel the intricacies of how it all works.

How does configuration management work?

Software development offers a clear example of configuration management, and it’s a good starting point for understanding the configuration management process. As with any IT project, information security must be integrated into software development from the very beginning.

Organizations often manage multiple projects, each involving many components, developers and teams, so a coherent approach is essential to prevent the software building and testing phases from becoming too chaotic. Incorporating configuration management in software engineering adds a much-needed layer of structure and standardization to the development process.

Configuration management systems have two main components:

Version control tracks and manages changes to software code and related files over time. It ensures every change is meticulously recorded, and allows multiple developers to work on the same codebase without conflicts.
Issue management monitors and organizes problems, enhancements and tasks throughout the development process, ensuring that issues are identified, prioritized, assigned and resolved efficiently.

Together, version control and issue management create a powerful framework for maintaining the integrity and quality of your software projects. Since these configurations capture both the design-time and runtime aspects of a solution, they must be carefully managed to ensure stability and security.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you navigate the complexities of the configuration management process and ensure a successful software development journey.

The pillars of configuration management

There are five key pillars of configuration management: planning, identification, control, status accounting, and audit. These pillars form the backbone of the entire configuration management process and are essential for maintaining accurate documentation, version control and change management in IT systems.

Planning the way forward: Proper configuration planning defines which items in your project are “configurable” and require some formal changes. This allows you to define, manage and audit changes to each component of your project.
Identifying configurable items: If you should worry about one thing, it’s a robust inventory. Start by gathering information, including configuration data, from each application and network device. This ensures they can be easily understood, maintained and recovered in the event of a disaster.
Establishing a baseline: Document all configuration requirements in a central repository, which will serve as the definitive “source of truth”. As changes occur, you can then measure their progress by comparing them to the baseline configurations.
Version control: Track and record any changes made to systems, applications and network devices. You can use configuration management tools to monitor these changes systematically, maintain a history of modifications and ensure all configurations remain consistent and reliable throughout the software system’s life cycle.
Reviewing and auditing: The final stage of the configuration management process involves checking that the software aligns with the established configuration requirements. Regular reviews and audits ensure compliance and quickly identify any deviations.

Configuration management tools: choosing the right solution

Configuration management may sound simple, but in reality, it’s deceptively complex. As the software product evolves, managing its configuration becomes increasingly challenging – because complexity leads to issues. So how can you consistently enhance your product configurations to achieve ever higher quality? The answer lies in good people, a solid process and the right automation tools.

Configuration management tools are software solutions designed to streamline and automate various aspects of IT infrastructure configuration management. They help organizations maintain consistency, control and integrity across their systems and services, while offering comprehensive system visibility.

However, with so many configuration management tools on the market, choosing the one that is right for you can be daunting. Important factors to consider include the ability to maintain consistency across systems, enhance operational performance and reduce errors caused by manual configurations.

Among the most popular options are Ansible, Terraform and Puppet, which offer powerful features and capabilities tailored to different use cases. Other notable alternatives include Chef, a configuration management tool that uses a Ruby-based DSL to define system configurations. Ultimately, though, selecting the right configuration management tool depends on a variety of factors like cost-effectiveness, scalability and the specific needs of your organization.

Cutting complexities

Configuration management tools are vital for ensuring consistency, reliability and security across different environments and platforms. Yet they also bring challenges that must be addressed. One major challenge is that they can introduce additional complexity into software development and support processes. Choosing the right tool – and learning to use it effectively and efficiently – is critical to avoiding potential pitfalls. It’s equally important to design and maintain configuration management code carefully, as this can be complex and time-consuming.

All this can make applying the configuration management process cumbersome. Fortunately, there are numerous sources of guidance for building effective practices. These include International Standards on system life-cycle processes (ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288) and configuration management guidelines (ISO 10007). Additionally, the series of standards on information security, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27002, provides frameworks to ensure configurations are managed to protect the security and integrity of information systems.

By adhering to these standards, organizations can leverage proven methodologies and best practices that promote efficiency, reliability and security in their IaC implementations. Collectively, they serve as a roadmap that can be tailored to each organization’s unique infrastructure automation requirements.

ISO/IEC 27001:2022Information security management systems
ISO/IEC 27002:2022Information security controls
ISO 10007:2017Quality management — Guidelines for configuration management

Configuration management: the next chapter

By integrating software development principles into infrastructure management, IaC is revolutionizing how we manage IT resources. This shift towards more agile, efficient and scalable IT operations – where tasks that were once manual and time-consuming are now automated through software – leads to better resource utilization, faster deployment and greater overall efficiency.

As IT environments increasingly rely on virtualization, automation and software-based management to provision, deploy and manage resources and services, the demand for adaptable configuration management tools will only continue to grow. These advanced tools, combined with a strong configuration management process, are key to unlocking the full potential of modern cloud deployments. Together, they usher in an era of unparalleled agility, consistency and seamless interconnectedness – marking a true evolution in technological prowess.